You Better Not Stop Planning

We spent the rest of the time in the office going over who Damon had already ruled out. It was to help me catch up and to further analyze if anyone needed to be looked into any further than they already had been. It was about noon when we finished up and got into our next plan of action. We needed to find out what alias he used and see if it led to anything that might reveal his true identity.

"Thank you for coming Justin." Damon spoke as he stood up and shook his hand. "We'll talk when either of us have something."

It was weird to be honest. They had never gotten along in the time I've known them both. Even before meeting Damon I had always heard from Justin how much he hated his uncle. With Damon while he wasn't as vocal I could always tell how he truly felt around Justin. He had never once hidden his animosity towards him, not even for Martin's sake.

Justin nodded. "Sounds good." He then proceeded to leave the office.

Damon sat back in his chair and turned to face me. "Are you hungry? I can have Stacey order some food or we can go out?"

"I could eat." I answered. "But I would rather go out. We've been in the office all day. It might be good to go out and get a little fresh air."

Damon nodded. "Very well, let's get going."

We both stood up and he grabbed my hand. He held it tightly as we left the office and headed for the car. We were accompanied by security of course. He refused to be without it right now for good reason. The more people around meant the less opportunity for our culprit. In return that gave us more time to figure out who he was.

We reached the Mercedes that was parked and waiting for us. Damon had left his BMW at home and felt it was safer to be driven around right now. I couldn't help but agree with him on this one too. I was willing to do whatever gave us both peace of mind during this time.

"Take us to my usual." Damon instructed Cody who was in the driver's seat of the vehicle.

"Yes sir." Cody nodded and started the drive.

With the traffic it took us about ten minutes to reach the destination Damon had chosen. Cody then parked that car and we headed inside. Damon's grip on my hand tightened. He kept me close as we made our way inside the restaurant.

"Mr. Tipton, so good to see you." The young woman greeted.

"I want a private table for my wife and I." Damon spoke to her.

"Of course." She nodded. "Right this way."

The hostess led us towards the back of the restaurant. The table she brought us too had been sectioned off with some dividers to give the privacy that had been requested.

"Is there anything else I could get either of you for now?" She asked.

"No. That is all." Damon responded.

She walked away quickly after she had been dismissed. The menus were on the table and I picked one up. Everything on it sounded pretty good. Minus the seafood options.

A young man approached the table. "My name's Emmett and I'll be serving you this afternoon. What can I get you both to drink?"

"Water is fine for me." I answered.

"I'll have water as well." Damon spoke as he continued looking over the menu.

"I'll be right back with those." Emmett smiled and headed off to go get out drinks.

"Does anything look good?" Damon asked as his eyes left the menu to look at me.

"Yeah." I responded. "I'm thinking of going with the grilled chicken salad."

"That's a good choice." Damon spoke once more and then went back to the menu.

Emmett came back over a few minutes later and took our orders. I had gotten the salad and Damon had ordered a seafood dish. Once all the details had been written down Emmett went to put it in. It was just Damon and I again.

"I wanted to talk to you one on one about this whole thing." Damon broke the silence that had developed.

"The shooter?" I clarified.

"Yes." He nodded.

"What about it?" I asked.

"The focus is on having this matter dealt with right now." He started. "But I don't want us to lose focus of the other things we have going on in our life. This man has already taken so much from us and because of it a happy moment like Scarlett's birth ended up being nothing but stress."

"So what are you saying exactly?" I asked with a puzzled expression.

He reached out and took my hand in his on the table. "What I'm saying is that I don't want to let this man ruin the wedding planning and the plans to open the second store. I want us to still focus on those things to help keep us sane."

I nodded. "I agree. But only if you feel it's safe enough and the right thing to do. I'm willing to put both on hold if he means we will catch this person sooner."

He shakes his head. "No Love. I don't want this to affect the plans we have made. Things have been thrown off so much and I refuse to let this impact us anymore than it already has. I would like to catch this person before either event and I believe we can make that happen. But you better not stop planning for either."

"I understand." I was slightly reluctant but I agreed.

"Good." I could tell in his tone he was pleased I hadn't put up a fight on the matter.

"Hey, how are you holding up with this anyway?" I felt the need to check in on his mental health. This Zach coming back and trying to make it impossible to find out his real identity had to have him on edge.

He thought for a moment and then answered. "I'm fine actually. I'm focused on getting the task at hand taken care of. As for the PTSD that I assume you're more concerned about, I still feel I have everything under control."

"Good. I'm glad to hear it." I responded.

"Love, I appreciate you checking in but I can promise you that you have nothing to worry about when it comes to that. I can handle this just fine. Just like I've handled everything before." His voice was calm as he was attempting to reassure me.

"But if you have any issues you'll let me know right?" I may trust him again but it didn't mean I didn't have the occasional fears of him being set back. Especially with this man back in town.

His icy blue eyes looked into mine seriously. "I promise. The first sign of me feeling off in even the slightest you will know."